90 THE PRACTICAL ANGLER 



is here indicated by the letter a ; those on which 

 the bobs or droppers are dressed by 6 and c. Commence 

 operations by joining the ends of the threads of gut 

 a and b together ; you have now a fly at both ends. 

 Next take a thread of gut and join it to b a few 

 inches above the hook, then join the end of c to this, 



and so on till you have got the required number. 

 The gut on which the droppers are dressed thus forms 

 a continuation of the main line, and for this reason 

 they should be dressed on the very longest threads. 



The droppers should hang down from the main 

 line from two and a half to three inches. If the 

 distance is increased, they are apt to become ravelled 

 with the main line, and occasion the angler consider- 

 able loss of time. The distance between the flies 

 should be from twenty inches to two feet. If it is 

 greater in rough water, the angler may pass over a 

 trout without its seeing any of them, and there is 

 nothing in the sight of two flies at a time calculated 

 to alarm a trout, 



Some works, when giving instructions for making 

 a fly-cast, recommend that the first dropper should 

 depend from the main line about three inches, the 

 second, five, and so on, always increasing the distance 

 when a fly is added. Their object, if we understand 

 it aright, being, that in fishing, the flies are to be 

 drawn along the water, so that the main line does 



